Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. Has $21.16 Million Position in Express Scripts Holding (ESRX)

Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. raised its stake in Express Scripts Holding (NASDAQ:ESRX) by 8.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 283,506 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,729 shares during the period. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. owned 0.05% of Express Scripts worth $21,161,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESRX. Macquarie Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Express Scripts by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 11,880,919 shares of the company’s stock worth $758,480,000 after purchasing an additional 922,406 shares during the last quarter. S&T Bank PA increased its position in shares of Express Scripts by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. S&T Bank PA now owns 97,998 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,257,000 after purchasing an additional 1,094 shares during the last quarter. San Francisco Sentry Investment Group CA increased its position in shares of Express Scripts by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. San Francisco Sentry Investment Group CA now owns 4,487 shares of the company’s stock worth $286,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Express Scripts by 39.1% in the 2nd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 111,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,138,000 after purchasing an additional 31,420 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sciencast Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Express Scripts in the 2nd quarter worth about $566,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Express Scripts Holding (ESRX) opened at $71.71 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market cap of $40,610.00, a PE ratio of 11.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.93. Express Scripts Holding has a one year low of $55.80 and a one year high of $83.49.

Express Scripts declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, December 18th that permits the company to buyback 45,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BidaskClub downgraded shares of Express Scripts from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Express Scripts from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $68.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Express Scripts from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $55.80 to $77.50 in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Mizuho set a $86.00 target price on shares of Express Scripts and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, SunTrust Banks reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Express Scripts in a research report on Friday, January 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. The stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $78.23.

In other Express Scripts news, VP Glen D. Stettin sold 3,449 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.00, for a total transaction of $279,369.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 33,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,730,915. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Glen D. Stettin sold 3,448 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total transaction of $262,048.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,001 shares of company stock valued at $1,249,505 over the last three months. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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Express Scripts Profile

Express Scripts, Inc is a pharmacy benefit management (PBM) company in North America, offering a range of services to its clients, which include health insurers, third-party administrators, employers, union-sponsored benefit plans, workers’ compensation plans and government health programs. It operates in two segments: PBM and Emerging Markets (EM).